As soon as the storm episode that hit the Alpes-Maritimes Valleys ended, the Metropole and the city of Nice activated a psychological and social support unit at the Victim Assistance House. A place open 7 days a week for all those directly or indirectly impacted by the storm.
Ensuring the coordination of material and psychological support to victims is the role of the agents present at the Victim Assistance House located at 6 rue Gubernatis. Since Saturday, this support location has been receiving people sometimes in situations of great precariousness.
On-site, several units have been organized to meet the different needs of victims individually. An initial office is responsible for providing psychological assistance. “Often, when one needs psychological help, it is difficult to take the first step, and here a large number of people come because they say I need to confide in someone, to be heard and taken care of because I cannot manage on my own,” explains Christian Estrosi. In total, ten psychologists and more than 50 agents from the city, the Metropole, and the CCAS (mainly social workers) take turns to lend an attentive ear.
A little further along in the support circuit, different agents are present to support the victims. This process is similar to the one already set up after the events of July 14, 2016. People go through a social service and then a consulting lounge to assess each person’s needs.
Then, they are escorted to different insurance, legal, and housing units. Once the housing situation of the people is resolved, assistance can be organized to deliver materials or food supplies as needed. Three lawyers supported by the Bar Association and two public writers are also present to handle all types of files such as insurance for example.
In addition to these various actions, services are in constant adaptation facing different scenarios. “Each time we come into contact with victims, we discover new problems. The latest issue concerns vehicles that were left in the villages after the evacuation of the populations on site. To address this, we organized a bus convoy to allow people to recover their vehicles,” adds Romain Gitenet, director of the Agency for Health Safety, Environmental and Risk Management.
A permanent hotline is reachable at all times at 04.97.13.59.69. This number should allow those who did not have the opportunity to return to the Valley or who came back on their own without passing through the emergency reception unit at the airport to benefit from the assistance set up by the Metropole’s services.
